Soul?
You may find yourself approaching a senator, someone with money, and asking him: ‘Do you know, sir, to whom you have entrusted the care of your horses?’
‘I do.’
‘Is it some random person with no knowledge of horses?’
‘Of course not.’
‘What about your money and clothes?’
‘I don’t hand them over to just anyone either.’
‘And as to your body, you’ve already found someone to entrust with its care?’
‘Naturally.’
‘An expert, obviously, in either exercise or medicine?’
‘Yes.’
‘Are these the things you value most, or have you got something better than them all?’
‘And what would that be?’
‘The faculty that uses all of them, and assigns each their place and value.’
‘You mean the soul?’
‘Good guess; that’s precisely what I mean.’
‘Absolutely, I think that is far and away a more precious possession than the others you mentioned.’
‘So, then, tell me the steps you’ve taken to care for the soul. As intelligent as you are, and as politically prominent, surely you would not casually look on and allow the most prized of your possessions to be neglected and go to ruin.’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Well, if you have looked after it personally, did you learn how from another person, or discover the means yourself?’
At this point you run the risk of him saying, ‘What business is that of yours, sir? What are you to me?’ Pester him further, and he is liable to punch you in the nose. I myself was once keen for this sort of discourse, until I met with just such a reception.